British singer PinkPantheress is gearing up for the release of her next mixtape with the new single “Tonight.” The song is animated by a sample of Panic! at the Disco’s 2008 song “Do You Know What I’m Seeing?”, a creative choice that she alluded to back in 2021.
“The beat might be drum ’n’ bass, but the writing style might be something you’d hear in a hyperpop song, or early ’00s Paramore or Panic! at the Disco,” she told Crack magazine at the time of her sonic curation process. “I’m picking my favorite musical attributes from certain genres, bands, and artists, and combining them.”
“I leave my bedroom with my posters of you up / I do this all because you’re my superstar / I look at you and I wonder why its so complicated / You’re talking out to a crowd of people who thought you hated / Your friends will tell me you’re too scared of coming up / But tonight, why is it all emotional to me?” she sings on the new track. “You want sex with me / Come talk to me / Talk later, that’s why I’m goin’ tonight / You’re hot, on fire, that’s why I’m callin’ tonight / Talk later, that’s why I’m goin’ tonight / You’re sex on fire, that’s why I like goin’ tonight.”
Carving her own musical lane in an industry so determined to squeeze her into a box has been a challenge, but PinkPantheress isn’t one to let outside voices get to her.
“A lot of my career has been people telling me their perception of me rather than me saying who I am,” she told Mixmag this week. “Being a ‘popstar’ or being in the public eye can definitely make you lose yourself. I am somebody who knows myself down to the bone but I’m telling you, being a singer makes it so easy to think about what people think or want to hear and it makes you lose elements of your beginnings.”
PinkPantheress’ next project is out May 9.